Container or shipping case having a removable cover to be locked and sealed



Oct. 8, 1946. J. BURGER 2,408,731

CONTAINER OR SHIPPING CASE HAVING A REMOVABLE 'covER TO BE LOCKED AND SEALED .Filed Dec. 30, 1945 Patented Oct. 8, 1946 QONTAINER R SHIPPING CASE HAVING A REMOVABLE COVER TO BE LOCKED AN SEALED Joseph Burger, New York, N. Y. Application December 30, 1943, Serial No. 516,151

1 Claim. 1

The present invention relates ,to containers or shipping cases and more particularly to those having removable tops or covers which can be locked and sealed and so constructed and arranged that they may be so used repeatedly.

Under conditions now existing it is not possible to make containers or shipping cases from inexpensive materials, such as corrugated paper or made those shipping or packaging containers intended to be thrown away after use, since these materials are not longer available. As a result, shipping containers or packing cases of this type must now be made of more costly materials, such as wood, making them relatively expensive to discard.

I have provided a container, the top of or cover to which, although locked and sealed, may readily be opened to remove the goods shipped in the container but which is so designed that it may then be returned to the shipper for repeated similar use. As a result, containers or shipping cases embodying my invention, even though made from comparatively expensive materials, are yet com paratively inexpensive since they may be used over again a great many times, making available for'commerce more durable and stronger containers, which heretofore because of cost were not used in a great many services.

Further, containers or packing cases embodying my invention are so constructed and arranged that they are tamper-proof because the cover thereof cannot be removed without breaking a seal, which if broken would immediately indicate to the receiver that the container or packingcase had been opened.

Heretofore, wooden boxes or cases could not readily b reused, since the top or cover thereof is usually nailed or so secured to the box or case that it must of necessity be destroyed or so damaged when it is opened that it is no longer reusable.

My invention, on the other hand, when applied to the prior box or shipping case construction provides one which can be sealed and readily opened without any damage thereto so that the box or case may be reused as often as desired.

These, other and further objects, advantages and uses of my invention will be clear from the drawing relating partially broken away show the catch member holding means therebeneath;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fi 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View similar to Fig, 2, with the top or cover removed;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of. the top or cover, showing the locking members in position to permit the closure to be removed from the container or case.

Referring now to the drawing, the box or shipping case l0 may be made of any suitable material, preferably wood, and is provided with the bottom [2, the end walls l4 and sides l6, which may be secured together by any suitable well known means, such as glue, nails orscrews. It will, of course, be understood that the present invention may be applied to any construction of box or case, the details of construction, except as modified as hereinafter described, forming no part of the invention. I

The interior I8 of the box or shipping case I0 is closed by the cover 20, which rests on the upper edges of the end liners orend cover supports 22 and side liners or side cover supports 24 secured to'the container or case in the interior thereof, the liners or supports extend inwardly from the ends l4 and sides [6 beyond the-upper shoulder 26 forming the locking groove 28, to which further reference will-be made.

The dimensions of the cover or closure 20 are such that it fits close to the ends l4 and sides l6 but does not extend into the locking groove 28 so that the cover or closure may be lifted out through or fitted into the opening 30 to the interior of the container or case to open or close it.

The cover or closure 20 has pivotally arranged thereon the locking members 32, which are serelatively tightly fit into the grooves 28, when the members are swung about the pivots 34 into locking position against the, stop members 40, Which'are secured to the cover or closure 29 by any suitable means.

The locking members 32 are longer than the width of the cover or closure 20 so that the beveled ends 38 extend completely into the groove 28 when the members 32 are positioned by corresponding, adjacent stops 40 transversely of the cover or closure (as illustrated in Fig. 1), the stops arranged on the closure or cover relatively to the locking members to accomplish this.

For convenience in the manufacture of the corn tainer, the locking grooves 28 are arranged along the sides l6 extending from one end of the container or case to the other end thereof, though it will be understood that these grooves need only be long enough and properly spaced to permit the entry therein in looking position of the beveled ends 38 of the locking members 32.

In operation, after the box or shipping is packed and the cover or closure locked in position by swinging the beveled ends 38 of the members 32 into the groove 28, whereupon the case or container will not be opened unless the members are purposely moved into a position such as illustrated in Fig. 5.

In order to prevent tamperin with the case and unauthorized removal of its contents during transit, I provide means for looking a member 32 to a stop 40, in the container closing position illustrated in Fig. 1.

A comparatively inexpensive construction to accomplish this is to provide an opening 42 in each stop 48 and a corresponding opening 44 in each member 32, the openings being brought into parallel alignment upon bringing home against its corresponding stop 40 a member 32. A catch member 46, such as a U-shaped staple, one leg 48 of which is arranged in the stop member opening 42 and the other leg 50 of which is arranged in the aligned opening 44 of the corresponding locking member 32, prevents these members from being moved into the position illustrated in Fig. 5, whereat the ends 38 have been moved out of the grooves 28 to thereby permit removal of the cover or closure 20 from the container or case.

This catch member or lock 46 may then be sealed as by the metal or paper seal 52, which covers and holds the catch member or look in position and which seal is preferably cemented to the stop and locking members. Should the seals be removed or in any way broken or damaged that would establish immediate evidence of possible tampering with the contents that had been shipped, so that in such event the shipment need not be accepted.

When the shipment is received, the seals are broken to release the catch member or look for removal from the stop and, locking members so that the container can be opened and the contents removed, whereupon the container may be closed, as described, the catch member o look rescaled so that it will not be lost and the container returned to the shipper for reuse.

It will now be recognized that I have provided a shipping container or packing case which will in no way be damaged when it is opened to remove its contents, even though it had been sealed to prevent tampering therewith or unauthorized removal of its contents, so that it may be used again and again, as desired, makin possible for its construction heretofor unused relatively expensive and durable materials.

While I have described in specific detail the construction of an embodiment of my invention, I do not intend to be limited thereto but intend to claim the invention as broadly as the following claim and the state of the prior art will permit, since changes in the construction details thereof will now readily occur to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

A shipping case comprising a bottom, end walls, side walls and a removable closure therefor, said side walls having grooves therein, locking members pivotally secured to the closure, stop members fixed to the closure and extending substantially at right angles to the grooves upon arranging the closure in the case, each of said locking members to be swung about its pivot into locking position against a stop member with the ends or the locking member inserted in a said roove, each of said stop and lockin members having holes therein, the mouth of the hole in a stop member lying in the same horizontal line as the mouth of the hole in the locking member upon bringing the locking member against a stop member, a U-shaped member, the legs of which completely and removably extend into a hole in the stop member and into the hole of the correspond ing locking member, the element of said U-shaped member connecting the legs thereof being positioned on and against the top of the stop member and corresponding locking member and a fiat sealing member secured to the surface of the stop member and corresponding locking member and extending partially thereover to partially cover said members, the holes and leg joining element of the U-shaped member.

JOSEPH BURGER. 

